A very strange situation A long closed restaurant burns to the ground the day the original owner died.

Yes life has many strange and ironic events and twists   Some too strange to explain.

Take the case  of the former Rivers Edge Restaurant along Allegheny River Blvd. in Penn Hills Pa.
a long time staple from the 50's that lasted well into the late 80's when its Original owner Sonny Casale shut it down. The building then sat empty for almost 2 decades and then went thru 2 transformations the first attempt  around 2009 when restaurateur Mike Roman opened a Bistro which failed after 6 months and then  a Italian Restrorante known as Vincinos  which closed down last year after lasting only 3 months and which burned to the ground in a spectacular fire which initially trapped 7 Penn hills firefighters and injured 3 of them.

http://www.wtae.com/news/firefighters-working-to-battle-blaze-in-penn-hills/38709214

 The same exact day sadly  Sonny passed away .

. My dad and I did some wiring work for Sonny when I was a kid in about 1969 when he added on a bigger dinning room.   Sonny was a very generous man and thought it was great and got the biggest kick out  how my dad was teaching me the trade at the age of all of 10years old.

CASALE

PHILIP "SONNY"

Age 84, of West Deer, formerly Penn Hills, on March 26, 2016. Husband of Lorraine Pennetti Casale;Sonny was the proud owner of The Rivers Edge Restaurant in Penn Hills for over 40 years. There will be no viewing. Mass of Christian Burial will be held Thursday 10:30 a.m. in St. Victor Church, West Deer. Fr. Charles Speicher, celebrant. Donations in Sonny's memory to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital . Arrangements entrusted to SCHELLHAAS FUNERAL HOME & CREMATION SERVICES, LTD., Bakerstown.

Published in Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Mar. 27, 2016

Sonny will be missed by all and so will that fantastic view from his restaurant  which sat high on the cliff above the Allegheny River. is no more I watched it go up in smoke several hours after the fire started after driving in from Altoona
Here is a picture I submitted to 1st responder news as I am one of their corespondents 

The fire was so overwhelming and complete we will probably never know its cause

Good Bye Sonny and may you Rest In peace it was good to meet some one so unique as you all those years ago